1. 28 June 2010- Richard and I celebrated seven years of marriage. I am certainly hoping that neither of us experiences any type of itching in the next 12 months. Although I read that these days the “seven year itch” might be more accurately called the “second year itch” since marriages are not lasting as long as they used to. In which case, we have long since been in the clear.

2. In anticipation of the return of my brother from overseas, my two other brothers came to Boise. (Great was their disappointment when said brother missed a couple flights and was marooned in Dallas overnight.) But we took advantage of their presence for a day. We had a picnic in the park and played a little wiffle ball.

3. 29 June 2010- My youngest brother Evan returned from his two year mission in Greece and Cyprus. Naturally, being in the Generation Y, it was only a matter of minutes before he had cell phone in hand, fresh off the plane. He told me later that he felt handicapped without a cell phone. It goes without saying that the youngest of six children is likely to endure a great deal of teasing. (I guess it doesn’t go without saying, because I just said it.)

4. 30 June 2010- My older brother had to return to Seattle before Evan’s return, and Darren returned to Twin Falls shortly after. But the house was not quiet for long, the next day my two sisters arrived from Henderson, Nevada thus reuniting all six grandchildren. (Virtually impossible to have them all look at the camera at the same time.)

5. 4 July 2010- Adri & Lori’s husbands arrived on Independence Day. Some brave family members ventured downtown to watch a firework display.

6. 5 July 2010- Bryan returned to Boise from Seattle, along with Brit. We were all thrilled to see that Brit has a “baby loading”. We now all refer to Bryan and Brittany’s future baby as “Tie-breaker” because he/she will disrupt the balance of 3 grand-sons and 3 grand-daughters. What’s it gonna be?!?!

7. 6 July 2010- Our family of 21 departed for a few days of quality bonding time at a cabin in Garden Valley. (Getting all 21 of us in a picture just “wasn’t in the cards” as Adri would say.)
8. A particularly comical moment at the cabin. We forgot to bring a cable to connect our computer to the t.v. so Evan could show us pictures from his mission. So we all pulled out our own laptops and watched them via a Picasa album as Evan narrated through the photos. Technology is amazing. Interestingly there were six computers and five of them were Toshibas. We had a hard time keeping track of whose was whose as they were dispersed around the cabin for World Cup updates, access to recipes and occasionaly members of Generation Y checking blogs or Facebook.

9. Other highlights included a ping-pong (or “pink-ball” as Eli called it) tournament put together by Richard, with a bracket and everything. The women did not fare well in that tourny so Bryan put together a Ladies Bracket. It was a sweep by the Stevens with Sean winning the original tournament and Lori pulling off an upset in the Ladies Bracket.

In an effort to harness some of the energy exhibited by the three little boys Lori came up with the “Bubbly Boy Boot Camp” which included a lot of marching and some fun games coordinated by Adri. Even the adults got in on the action.

Other activities included air hockey, biking, swimming, puzzle-ing, napping, reading, playing games, discussing, a whole lot of taking care of kids, campfire, and of course eating. The food was delicious because as Richard put it, everyone brings their “A” game when it comes to meal preparation.

10. 10 July 2010- We returned to Boise, exhausted. That night we had a BBQ birthday party for little Thea who will be turning one year old in a few days.

Of course I have a hundred more pictures and stories, but this post has taken me nearly two hours to assemble. For those (besides my family) who took the time to read it I apologize if you want the last couple minutes of your life back. I love my family and getting us all together is no small feat in consideration of distance, jobs, transportation and school. The last couple weeks have been chaotic but sublime.

Wow. I left my deepest thoughts of late front and center on my blog for a l.o.n.g. time and I only got one comment?  Come on deep thinkers!

We’ve been busy around here.  L.O.T.S. to post about tomorrow. 

Don’t you l.o.v.e. it when people employ improper use of punctuation for added emphasis? 

There is a quote I may have shared before that hangs on my wall and reads: “We find comfort among those who agree with us, growth among those who don’t.” (Frank A Clark.)

From the time I first read it until recently I interpreted it one way. I felt that I could learn so much from the ideas of other people even if I didn’t agree with them. I believed that Mr. Clark was saying that our own perspectives are broadened as we encounter people whose beliefs are different from our own. Perhaps as the result of hearing and understanding new opinions our own opinions are changed or modified. But even if our own opinions are not altered and we stand fast in our convictions, we are enriched by the exchange. This was the growth I assumed he spoke of.

The book I mentioned, The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down, supported this interpretation of the quote. It caused me to realized that the lens through which we view the world is so narrow and fogged by our own ideas, culture, beliefs and education that we don’t even know what we aren’t seeing. I really can’t articulate the ways in which Anne Fadimen brought to my attention my own clouds of bias, assumption, and stereotypes. Although I still fundamentally disagree with some of the principles of Hmong culture and the practices of the healthcare workers in the story, I have grown from reading about them.

Then a couple months ago I discovered a new meaning to the quote aforementioned. I realized that some people’s opinions have little or nothing to offer my intellect. Some people make foolish choices that my efforts to understand offer no reward. For example, I observe the selfish choice of someone in my life and become filled with anger. The growth I am going to gain from this individual would not come from hearing their justification for their choice.

The growth that comes from disagreement in this circumstance is the growth that comes when I love someone in spite of their choices and allow my heart to be filled with charity rather than allowing my thoughts to be consumed with anger. This growth has nothing to do with being open-minded or tolerant, but everything to do with being more like Jesus Christ.

The ideas of self-deception from the Arbinger Institute that I mentioned before have helped me with this growth. The idea of treating people as humans and exhibiting charity and compassion unconditionally is most difficult with those who I don’t agree with and therefore gives me the most opportunity for cultivation of character.

Even though Father’s Day was a little while ago I want to thank my dad for his wisdom in sharing insightful quotes with me. He has a gift for discerning truth and he searches out the sage counsel of thinkers of all varieties.

Cameron did another race on Friday, and this time I ran with him. All the kids and their parents “chased” an ice cream truck around downtown Boise. I was disappointed to discover that the ice cream at the end of the race was for the children only. Come on!

This race was in support of men’s health with special regard to Prostate Cancer Awareness. Since Cameron has a great-grandfather who has endured prostate cancer it was a great opportunity to explain the fundraising aspect of fun runs.

Of course it rained as soon as we started running and stopped as soon as we finished. Cameron did great though, and I tried to explain that if people in front of you are going slower than you are, it is okay to pass them. He looked at me like I was being rude. Oh well, he’ll learn.

Richard usually does the grilling around here. There are several good reasons for this. He enjoys it, he is good at it, and he doesn’t melt the plastic siding on our house with the lid of the grill. (Isn’t plastic siding so awesome?)

Unfortunately this isn’t the first time I’ve done this. But it certainly will be the last, as I have vowed to never lay a finger on that grill again.

But what gives? We have a comfortable cushion in the value of our home to absorb such tragedies as this.

Haha.

At last summer weather has descended upon us. We have finally been able to occupy our time at river beaches and in the plastic backyard pool. Good summer times.

Meanwhile, my thoughts are occupied with this book, extremely well-researched and perspective altering. Perhaps one of the reasons my book reading is so inconsistant is because when I become engrossed in a book I am even more ineffective as a wife/mother/housekeeper than I am when I waste away my hours online. Such has been the case with this book and I think my family will be relieved when I return it to its rightful owner.

Warning: This is one of those posts with several pictures that all look mostly the same, but slightly different that only mothers, fathers, grandparents and other family members can really appreciate.

Yesterday I cut up some grapes into small pieces for Miriam to try. Her expressions delighted me.

So unsuspecting…

Initial shock…

Not quite sure…

Jury is still out…

Mmmmm, yes. She likes them.

Cameron is moderately obsessed with dinosaurs.  He walks around the house slightly hunched over, like an Allosaurus with his hands in a three-finger position and “roaring” until his voice gets hoarse.  (Which Miriam, incidentally, thinks is hilarious.  Someone opening their mouth and growling as loud as possible right in my face is not amusing, but with babies one can never guess what will delight them.) 

We found a BBC series called “Walking with Dinosaurs” on Netflix that Cameron has been thoroughly enjoying.  It is pretty informative as well.  I have ceased to be surprised to hear him use words like “species” and “hypothesis”.  But once in awhile he gets a little mixed up. 

The dinosaur shows and movies he loves to watch talk about predators quite a bit.  But somehow he is missing something because all morning he has been chasing Eli around the house calling himself a “creditor“. 

“Eli, you have to run and hide or the creditors will get you. Roar!”

Well Cam, some people might argue that the two are one in the same.